The meaning of almost any group of words within a text can be changed, often radically, by the simple means of quoting out of context. A facetious example would be: "Jesus was consistently cheerful, not-withstanding that he sometimes drank deeply." We'll leave it to the reader to discover the real context which, we can assure you, is quite different from what it appears to be.

It's the motive that counts??
   There are probably many quotes from The Urantia Book that have potential to do great harm if taken out of the context meant by the book. One of these is the subject of "motive." In one instance, Jesus says, "In gaining an entrance into the kingdom of heaven, it is the motive that counts. My Father looks into the hearts of men and judges by their inner longings and their sincere intentions." (1571)  In others, he says, "I look beyond the act to uncover the motive," (1576) and, "the morality of any act is determined by the motive." (1585)

Or is it?
    Taken independently of the total content of the book, these statements on motive can easily be taken to support that infamous concept attributed to Count Machiavelli that, "The end justifies the means." With it, Machiavelli perpetrated much evil, but his deeds pale into insignificance compared with the effect it had by its inclusion in the Communist Manifesto composed by Marx and Engels. Exploiting it, Chairman Mao is reported to have said that a nuclear war that wipes out virtually all of the world's population would be justified provided the few that remain are Communists.

    Nowhere does The Urantia Book infer that an immoral act is justified by a supposedly worthy end. On the contrary the book states, "Moral acts are those human performances which are characterized by the highest intelligence, directed by selective discrimination in the choice of superior ends as well as in the selection of moral means to attain these ends. Such conduct is virtuous. Supreme virtue, then, is wholeheartedly to choose to do the will of the Father in heaven. (193)

     In debate, we can always come up with hypothetical circumstances where telling that little white lie in order to gain a worthy end appears to be justified. In real life, the problem that inevitably arises is that more lies need to be told to cover the earlier misdemeanor and before long morality has disappeared down the proverbial pit.